Just before the activation of Strength, Titosso, who hadn’t managed to escape the classroom by the deadline, sulked with a fuming face.
“Oknodie isn’t allowed to take the exam first!”
“Huh? How unfair. Where’s the rule in that?”
“Oknodie is the more unfair one! What about the others if you pass first with that kind of skill? Only one person ended up leaving the classroom with a record.”
“I wanted to go home together!”
“Well… I was a little happy about that. Hehe.”
Ziang, who was listening from the side, unexpectedly lifted her mask slightly, showing her bare face.
“Who’s that one person?”
“Big Stone-senpai.”
“Seems like they’ve got some skills?”
“Passed by mixing Strength with piercing magic. The professor allowed it as long as the basics were solid, so it’s fine for them to use applied skills. Tch. Passing with techniques not taught in lecture time is outright cheating. It seems like first-year students don’t attend such lectures.”
“Strange. I’m taking the same lecture as Oknodie.”
Titosso’s eyes lit up.
“Really? How was it? Did Oknodie bother the senpais?”
“I wouldn’t know about that.”
“Didn’t the lecture get harder because of Oknodie?”
“Not really. It was just fun.”
Wednesday, Second Period.
In Professor Bronze’s [Everything About Disassembly] lecture time.
After a shocking experience with a mimic on the underground stairs, the two couldn’t just let Oknodie attend such a dangerous special training alone, so they took up the challenge of Professor Bronze’s lecture together.
Since it was lecture time for Oknodie, Ziang, and Titosso, information exchange was active.
“What did you do in the Basics and Understanding of Disguise lecture?”
“Want me to tell you?”
“Yup! I want to hear about it.”
Ziang recalled what had happened a couple of days ago.
—
[Basics and Understanding of Disguise]
Monday and Wednesday, 6th period, from 9 PM to 11 PM.
Professor Pinkberry’s lecture time.
Ziang had a clear concept behind her lecture choices.
It would help her hone her skills as an assassin!
Disguise techniques were not only about sneaking in undetected but also about approaching the target right in front of them—an extremely useful skill.
“What kind of brat wants to learn disguise techniques already in first year?”
“…”
Despite having a bit of a temper, the notably lively and youthful professor quickly caught the attention among many older male professors at the academy.
With her pink twin-tails swishing side to side, the academy’s shortest professor stood before the blackboard.
She was only 144 cm tall.
Ziang, the third shortest at the academy, was the only one who could win against her in height.
‘She’s definitely just like Oknodie.’
Someone stronger yet shorter than me.
“She’s a weird one.”
Even when she subjected Ziang to harsh words as if trying to chase her away, Professor Pinkberry ultimately gave up on trying to kick Ziang out.
The disguise lecture was one that first-year students seldom attended.
Just last week, there had been rumors that a professor as short as Oknodie was teaching; thus, quite a few first-year students showed up.
Professor Pinkberry used her cute looks combined with her fierce demeanor to teach those clueless students a lesson by turning them into mice or fleas.
…One might wonder if they had come to a lecture on transformation magic instead of disguise techniques!
Of course, Ziang didn’t incur any harm.
Being short herself and fond of the short professor, she never said a rude word.
Sensitivity to malice is just like the sensitivity to kindness, you know! The professor understood Ziang’s good nature and even treated her as a commendable first-year student.
“I brought a friend.”
When the professor I like meets the friend I like, double the happiness!
It would be even better if they got along well.
Ziang’s simple thought seemed to strike gold as Professor Pinkberry reacted rather enthusiastically upon seeing Oknodie.
“You’re…! The child who had mosquitoes nearby!”
Professor Pinkberry recognized Oknodie from watching her during the Grade Tournament: Dodgeball at the big sports day.
Feigning ignorance at the professor’s response, Oknodie blurted out,
“Mosquito? I don’t know anything about that!”
From Ziang’s perspective, who remembered the efficiency of using those mosquitoes to send a nice soothing to death on the Cruise Ship, it seemed quite natural behavior.
If she actively showed off her secret weapon that could threaten every student and professor in the classroom, that would disqualify her as an assassin.
Pretend not to know what you know.
Act like what you have is absent.
Being brazen is a mindset an assassin should carry.
Just like Oknodie, who at 133 cm always boasted that she would one day be 230 cm tall.
“That’s funny? You’ve got no qualms about barging into the professor’s bedroom and sucking blood, right, Mosquito Master?”
Oknodie awkwardly turned her gaze and whistled.
One wonders if there’s something she wishes to hide.
“Well, that’s good. I’ll give you proper education. With that underage face disarming the professor’s heart, Ziang’s student brought you, too!”
Professor Pinkberry’s lecture on disguise from the week prior was all about TPO, the appropriate attire for the time and place, to blend in smoothly wherever they go.
However, today’s lecture presented an exceedingly unique outfit that directly contradicted the previous teachings.
“Fishnet stockings?”
“Rabbit ear headband?”
The second-year seniors jumped and gasped.
“No way, Professor! How can you make us wear something like this? Bunny girl costume?!”
“Are you insulting us by making us wear the garb of lowly beastkin?”
“Don’t want to listen? Then don’t. I’ll only teach students who can wear this.”
The second-year seniors huffed and left the classroom.
Left in the disguise classroom were only Ziang and Oknodie.
“How about it? Can you wear this?”
With a provocative and annoying smile that irritates human temper, the professor looked like the Masugaki Princess.
Ziang chuckled underneath her mask and changed into the bunny girl outfit.
The chilly night air felt prickly against her skin, each fabric brushing against her making her shiver—a feeling she wasn’t unaccustomed to.
Due to her occupation, she had sometimes invaded mansions dressed for the occasion, changing into a maid outfit and sneaking through windows.
In changing clothes, there’s no distinction between high and low.
Only favorable or unfavorable outfits for the mission exist.
The extreme efficiency resulted in finding no reason to dislike the bunny girl outfit unlike the second-year seniors.
“How about Oknodie?”
Oknodie casually changed her outfit just like Ziang.
Seemingly bothered by the droopy long ears of her rabbit headband, she fidgeted and replied.
“Veteran players often collect costumes when there’s nothing else to do! Of course, it’s perfectly fine. I actually like it!”
Only Professor Pinkberry was the one who was enraged.
Trying to scold Oknodie, who was connected with the student she had personally clapped into the Great Prison due to her mosquito-biting wrath, the plan backfired.
In the end, only the second-years left the classroom, and the remaining kids didn’t even realize they had been insulted.
A widespread belief that beastkin were inferior to humans pervaded the world.
Not to mention that rabbit beastkin were at the very bottom of the food chain.
It wouldn’t have been odd if they had run out of there crying, but they looked so pleased by what they saw that it drove the professor to the edge.
“Being able to infiltrate naturally even in unnatural attire—that is the next level of disguise techniques.”
Unlike the professor, who forced herself to suppress her uncomfortable feelings, the satisfaction rating of the lecture was soaring high with the two first-years.
—
“Such a thing happened. The professor really has good taste, right? She surely knows we are assassins and focuses on teaching us disguise techniques that will help us.”
“Really? That doesn’t feel quite right…”
Is it even fair to say that I get to attend a lecture from which all the second-years fled?
Titosso felt a slight suspicion but had no time to voice any questions.
Because Professor Bronze’s lecture was starting.
“Today, I’ll teach you how to disarm magic. By completing this lecture, you’ll be able to dismantle the night magic traps surrounding the first-year dorms and sneak around the campus.”
“!”
There were other professors besides Professor Pinkberry who teach good stuff to the kids.
—
Professor Bronze noticed Oknodie’s remarkable growth over the vacation.
‘The total amount of strength has increased.’
It wasn’t just Oknodie.
Everyone who had gone boating with her had made significant growth.
Exotic food from around the world, systematic practical training facilities, and even minimum treasure (+5 upgrade) loot!
It felt like they might as well have raided a dungeon, given their visible growth.
‘Then I can make the lectures a bit more challenging. They should be able to keep up.’
For those students who hadn’t participated in Oknodie’s boating trip, unexpected trials were about to strike!
However, such phenomena weren’t solely confined to Professor Bronze’s lecture.
After the class, while passing near the professors’ lounge, Professor Bronze unintentionally overheard conversations among other professors.
“Hasn’t the overall level of first-years risen?”
“Not all, but a few among the lower classes who were already decent at their skills have clearly improved.”
“The intermediate class was initially introduced starting from second year, but from next year, it would be reasonable to request early introduction for first-year students due to noticeable differences.”
“Even in the upper class, right?”
“It shows they spent the vacation very diligently. We have to step up too, or else, it’s going to hurt our pride as educators if we lazily teach while the young ones are so eager to learn.”
Professors, who think that pushing students to the brink until they plead for mercy is the true exemplar of a professor!
Professor Bronze, who overheard that devilish discussion, nodded in satisfaction.
Though there is a clear bias towards imperial students, there must definitely be some understanding among the professors.
“Then, won’t students taking multiple classes end up bearing undue burdens? I’ve heard there are two first-years taking as many as 13 classes.”
“Oknodie and Ishtar. The top student and the second top student.”
“In that case, we must put in extra effort for the classes they attend. How unfair would it be if we let up on teaching and that student’s grades fell? I’d feel so wronged!”
The eyes of the imperial professors sparked with excitement.
“That’s right. We can’t let the teachers from the border school hear that an imperial professor lost. We have to expand the midterm exam’s scope by 1.2 times.”
“Then I’ll double the assignments.”
“I’ll set the practical pass score even more harshly.”
Professor Bronze, who overheard the ambitious declarations of the imperial professors, secretly vowed as well.
His lectures would have to increase in difficulty explosively for the next session.
